Thanks once again to my sweet reviewers. Enjoy the next chapter!

Chapter Five

That evening, after the senior officers' last shift of the day ended, they all gathered in one of the rec rooms for some relaxation before going to bed.

"How was your talk with our guest, Spock?" Uhura asked as Scotty dealt cards for a game of Uno. He had discovered and fallen in love with the 20th century game and insisted on teaching the others.

"It was not as fruitful as I had hoped, but it was not a complete failure."

"Oh? What did you find out, Spock?" Kirk asked.

"She has a distrust of those in uniform as many of her captors were seemingly military."

"So if any of us want to visit, we might want to change out of uniform and leave our ranks at the door?"

"That would be an accurate assessment, Captain."

Kirk sighed as he looked down at his cards. That certainly complicated things.

"In short, she doesn't trust any of us," McCoy huffed.

"What makes ye say tha', Doc?" Scotty asked.

"Well, she's afraid that you 'military' types are there to interrogate and hurt her, and she think I'm there to drug her when she doesn't give us the answers we want," McCoy explained. "After Spock left, I brought her an early dinner since the nurse told me that she hadn't touched her lunch. She thought Spock had me drug it because she couldn't answer his questions."

Silence reigned for several minutes.

"Zat ees horrible," Chekov softly said. "She must feel so alone eef she doesn't zink she can trust any-von."

"No kidding," Sulu nodded sadly.

Spock shook his head in disbelief. "Only in very extreme, life or death cases would I even think about condoning such action. Especially on one such as her."

"We know that, Spock," Kirk laid a hand on his friend's shoulder. "but she doesn't. The only experience she's had with people like us is far from good."

"On the contrary, Captain, I do not think she has had experience with people like us very much at all. I believe that is her problem."

Kirk grinned at the Vulcan's response. "You know what, I think you are right, Mr. Spock. Let's hope we can change her mind about us."

The next day, McCoy was greeted by the sight of Chekov entering Sickbay carrying two lunch trays.

"Now, just what do you think you are doin'?" McCoy huffed. "If Jim sent you down to ensure I eat-"

"Actually, I brought eet for our guest," Chekov answered. "Sorry, Doctor, but I vould like to try and make friends vith her."

"Pavel, I think what you are trying to do is great; really, I do, but I really think it's too soon."

"Please, Doctor? I vill leave as soon as she asks me to."

McCoy sighed. On one hand, he knew she would not be trusting or ready to make a friendship with the young Russian, but, on the other hand, it might be good for her to have contact with someone closer to her own age.

"Alright, but don't say I didn't warn you." He motioned for Chekov to follow him. They ducked behind the privacy curtain that separated her bed from the rest of Sickbay. "Hey there, how are you feeling this afternoon?" he asked the girl.

"Still sort o' tired," she answered softly.

"Well, your body has had a lot to heal in a short amount of time," McCoy answered encouragingly. "That'll knock anyone down for the count." He did a quick check-up, then positioned her table over her lap. "A friend of mine brought you lunch today, and we thought he could keep you company while you two eat."

A nurse called McCoy away, leaving Chekov to scoot up the chair and introduce himself. "Hello, my name's Pavel." He smiled softly at her as she eyed his uniform. "Vot should I call you?"

She sent him a silent, questioning look.

"Vell, ewen eef you can't remember your name, we have to call you somezing," he answered. "I vould like to call you somezing ozer zen 'hey you'." She just shrugged, and picked up her fork. "Hmmm, Doctor McCoy ees conwinced you are Irish...Paddy...zat ees an Irish name, I zink. Da, I vill call you Paddy," he nodded in satisfaction.

He proceeded to tell her about his morning in Engineering, though it ended up being a very one-sided conversation, and he was not sure how much she actually paid attention to. It did not bother him though. She did not immediately demand he leave, or anything else, so he considered it a small victory.

As he left with a "See you tomorrow, Paddy," he decided to eat as many of his lunches with her as possible. Maybe he could bring Sulu tomorrow.